Commodities

In the two months since June 8th, when The Economist's commodity-price index was at its lowest level this year, wheat prices have jumped by more than 50% to their highest in almost two years. Severe droughts in Russia and Ukraine have driven the surge. But the Food and Agriculture Organisation, a UN body, reckons that the world wheat market has adequate inventories to cover the predicted shortfall. Other food essentials have also become dearer. A shortage of premium Arabica beans from Colombia and Central America has sent coffee prices shooting up by 25% since the beginning of this year. Traders expect wholesale coffee prices to increase further before the arrival of the new Brazilian crop later this year.